Senate Oks Judicial Referendum Voters Would Decide If Judges Should Be Elected Or Appointed

March 11, 1992|By DIANE HIRTH, Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida voters may get a chance this fall to decide whether circuit and county judges should be appointed instead of elected.

The proposed ballot question, approved by the state Senate on Tuesday, is a response to the escalating expense and sometimes sleazy tactics of judicial races in South Florida.

In some cases, up to $500,000 has been raised by a single judicial candidate -- with most contributions coming from lawyers who later bring cases before the judges they helped finance.

``The most insidious and corrosive influence on the judiciary today is raising money for a campaign,`` Sen. Helen Gordon Davis, D-Tampa, said on Tuesday.

The House has yet to vote on the issue.

The Senate voted 27-11 in approving the so-called ``merit retention`` constitutional amendment that would come before the voters in November. Under the proposal, circuit and county judges would be appointed by the governor.

Every four years for county judges and six years for circuit judges, voters would get a chance to decide whether the appointees should be kept on the bench. Voters would simply check off ``yes`` or ``no.``

Proponents of the change said 95 percent of circuit and county judges run for re-election with no opponents, meaning they escape public scrutiny. Proponents also said the majority of new judges are initially appointed to fill vacancies rather than elected.

But critics said the proposal is elitist because it concentrates too much power in the hands of judicial nominating commissions and the governor.

``The politics will be in the wheeler-dealers` hands,`` said Sen. Richard Langley, R-Clermont.

Protested Sen. Arnett Girardeau, D-Jacksonville, ``When you vote for a governor, you will be voting for a dictator who will appoint the people who will judge you.``

Sen. Peter Weinstein, D-Coral Springs, said, ``Some people who would be wonderful judges will never get a chance to serve.``

To guarantee some diversity in the appointments, Sen. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, inserted an amendment that new judges should reflect the gender, racial and ethnic balance of the community.

``It`s not a quota,`` he said. ``(But) otherwise you may perpetuate a country club of white male judges.``

The amendment (CS-SJR 18) passed 27-11 and next goes to the House where a similar proposal (CS-HJR 23) has been bogged down for more than a month. The House sponsor, Rep. John Cosgrove, D-Miami, said he will try before the legislative session ends Friday to bring up the Senate version.

HOW THEY VOTED

How South Florida legislators voted on a proposal to hold a referendum on whether county and circuit judges should be appointed. A ``yes`` vote is a vote to put the issue on the November ballot: